Fear and Fire PV Kit Paine Closed

"'Selim'?" a voice from the shadows asked. "Sorry, wrong person. Don't even try what? 'Hurting your brother'?" A derisive snort echoed off the stone walls. "Isn't it yourself you should be worrying about right now?"

A tan-skinned kid with spiky black hair and sienna brown eyes stepped into the torchlight, frowning at Ruka. He raised a brow at the fire fans. "Those look dangerous," he commented, but he said it in such a way that it was difficult to tell whether he was being sarcastic or not. "Why don't we put them away before anyone gets hurt, huh?"

The young man wore plain black school robes and regarded Ruka's own garments. The image of a kitten on the other boy's shirt earned a confused look closely followed by a snicker of mirth. Then he shook his head.

"You weren't headed anywhere you shouldn't have been, were you? Tell me you're headed to bed," he said. "Then again, you didn't look like you came from the dining hall...and you're pretty scrawny. Did you even eat anything for dinner?"

He reached out to swiftly snatch one of the unlit fans from Ruka and, if successful, turned it this way and that, examining it. "Doesn't look like anything school-regulated..." he muttered under his breath, supposedly to himself.

@Ruka Burnett-Tân

@Kit Paine

T O P

J E A N S / S H O E S

The kid retreating from the shadows was most definitely not Selim, and he announced as much as he stepped into Ruka's field of vision. It wasn't a familiar face, which was even more unsettling. The devil you know was preferable for a multitude of reasons, but this kid... Ruka didn't think he'd ever seen him around. Then again, it wasn't like Ruka paid a huge amount of attention to the people around him. The boy did wear school robes and was definitely the right age for being a student, even if Ruka couldn't quite determine his age.

"I can take care of myself," he snapped, furrowing his brows when the other boy pointed out that it was himself he should be worried about. Was that a threat? "And as long as you keep your distance there's no need for anyone to get hurt." The request for him to put the fire fans away was met with Ruka spitefully lifting them a little higher instead.

Keeping an eye on the other kid's facial expressions as he seemed to muster his clothes, Ruka frowned with displeasure at the words thrown at him. "Tell me how that's any of your business," he countered, shaking his head, features set in a scowl. "I don't see a Prefect badge on your robes, it's not curfew yet, and I don't owe you any explanations." His shoulders tensed a little. "But maybe you can tell me why you've been lurking in the shadows and following me." He had more to say, but in that moment the boy reached out, startled Ruka so much that he didn't fight one of his fire fans being taken away.

"Hey!" he protested, reaching a scarred hand up to snatch at the air, too slow to grasp the object back. The other boy seemed to examine the fire fan thoughtfully. "You don't look like anything school-regulated," he spat nonsensically. "Who do you think you are, taking other people's stuff like that?" He furrowed his brows and took the opportunity to pull his wand from the back pocket of his jeans with his newly freed hand. "If you really don't want anybody to get hurt you better give it back. I dare say you have no clue how to use it anyway."

"I can take care of myself. And as long as you keep your distance there's no need for anyone to get hurt."

The black-haired boy stared, eyes half-lidded. "And people say I'm paranoid..." he muttered under his breath. He sighed and rolled his eyes when he saw Ruka lift the fans a little higher despite his request.

"Look, kid. I'm just trying to keep on the lookout for any suspicious activity and you're acting pretty suspicious. You never know when there could be hags lurking around here, y'know?"

With another sigh, he handed the fan back. The corner of his mouth twitched at the copper-haired boy's comment about him not looking like anything school-regulated, as if he were fighting back a smile. Then he planted his hands on his hips.

"I'm the caretaker," he admitted in a deadpan tone, eyeing the other boy's drawn wand. "Don't get your robes in a bind. I'm trying to help keep everyone safe." He would have held out his hand to shake, but it seemed the Gryffindor's hands were full between his wand and his fans. Besides, he doubted he was in the mood to shake hands anyway.

"You can call me Shawn. Now either run along to your common room or follow me to my office if you want to talk more." With that, he turned and began to walk toward the tower in which the caretaker's office was located.

@Ruka Burnett-Tân

@Kit Paine

Ruka frowned at the boy in front of him, fire fans still defensively held up. He heard the comment about paranoia but decided not to react to it aside from fixing the other boy with a disapproving glare.

"And who made you responsible for keeping a look out?" he asked, shaking his head. "Not like you'd be any safer from hags than I would. And anyway, if my heading towards my Common Room seems suspicious, then what would you call your creepily lurking in the shadows and watching people? Not normal at least, I'll tell you that."

Ruka took a deep breath, stance relaxing only slightly at the sight of the other boy's face scrunching up as if trying to suppress a smile for a moment while handing his fire fan back again. Struggling a bit to keep both of the fans in one hand, he tucked his wand away and transferred one of the manipulation rings to his free hand. A small snort escaped him when the other kid announced himself to be the caretaker. "Keep everyone safe?" Ruka asked with traces of disbelief lacing his voice. "How is that your responsibility?" Again, the kid spoke like it was his duty to protect the castle's inhabitants by being creepy.

"Your office?" Ruka blinked, watching the other boy - Shawn - turn away to head in a different direction. It wasn't, however, the direction of one of the common rooms, but rather the North Tower which was... indeed home to the caretaker's office.

Swiftly, Ruka took a few steps to follow Shawn. "Hold on, mate," he said, shaking his head. "Look, I'm not sure if you're playing a prank, but just in case you aren't..." He furrowed his brows. Did this kid really believe he was the caretaker? What was up with that? "Do you want me to help you to the Hospital Wing? You seem... confused." After all, Ruka had seen the caretaker before, and this kid didn't look like him. Shawn also wasn't the name Ruka thought the caretaker went by. "It's almost curfew, you're heading places you aren't supposed to be... Do you know which House you're in? I can take you to your Common Room too, just don't go waltzing into staff members' offices late at night. I have no experience, but I doubt it makes a great impression."

"You might be surprised," Shawn told Ruka when the latter mentioned the former wouldn't be any safer from the hags than Ruka would. "As for being suspicious, I meant where you were coming from, at what hour, and what you're carrying with you," Shawn clarified. "Not to mention being all standoffish about telling me what I want to know. But fine; I guess my sneaking around doesn't help much either." He smirked slightly. "Since you seem to know other people like this Selim who do it, though, maybe it's more 'normal' than you're making it out to be."

He shrugged when asked more questions, apparently not feeling all that inclined to answer them right there standing in the hallway. He at least wanted to be moving toward the office as they conversed. When it became clear Ruka meant to follow him, Shawn responded, not pausing in his step.

Ruka was asking him if he wanted help to the Hospital Wing. This time, Shawn really couldn't help the smile that tugged on his lips. "I appreciate the offer, but I assure you, I'm quite alright," he said to the other boy. "This is a magic school, yeah? Aren't you familiar with things not being what they seem?"

He glanced back over his shoulder, his smile still faintly pulling at his mouth. "Don't worry. Even if I go waltzing into this staff member's office this time of night, I'm sure he won't mind. Ever met him?" He continued up the steps of the tower, wondering just how far Ruka was willing to follow.

@Ruka Burnett-Tân

@Kit Paine

T O P

J E A N S / S H O E S

For a moment, Ruka could do nothing but grit his teeth. Who did this kid think he was, policing where he came from and what he was carrying with him? He hadn't been breaking any rules! The mention of Selim was what brought back Ruka's capability for speech and he found himself snapping at the other boy. "I wouldn't exactly call Selim normal," he pointed out, scowling. "And if you're anything like him I'm better off not telling you a thing about what I'm doing and where I'm going." Lest there be more kidnappings.

As for Ruka's questions, Shawn didn't seem like he was willing to answer any of them, which was aggravating at best. The nerve of him, to follow Ruka around, stop for a chat and then not even give any answers!

Shawn didn't slow down when Ruka caught up to him, but he smiled, as if Ruka had said something thoroughly entertaining. What a jerk, talking like Ruka was missing something obvious, like he should be used to seeing things that weren't what they seemed. What was he talking about? "Feels like most things are exactly what they seem," Ruka just said with slight irritation in his voice.

The smile was still there when Shawn continued talking, claiming that this particular staff member wouldn't mind the intrusion. Ruka wondered if Shawn realised how odd it sounded for him to say that he was the caretaker just to then talk of the caretaker in the third person.

"I've seen him around before," he answered warily. From a distance, sure, but he was still aware of what he looked like, at least somewhat. Ruka thought there were similarities between Shawn and the caretaker, but not enough for them to be the same person. This kid was most certainly a student, if that. There was no sigil on his robes to show which House he belonged to, and he hadn't answered Ruka's question about where his Common Room was either. "And he doesn't look like you. Most importantly, he's an adult, and you look like you should spend your weekends doing Homework."

Still, Shawn ventured on, up the stairs, with an unfounded confidence. Ruka stopped at the bottom for a moment, frowning. He had two options; Leave the kid to get in trouble by himself and go back to his Common Room where he should be, or follow. Ruka sighed. Fine. Fine. Swiftly he followed Shawn up the stairs, casting the other boy a disapproving glare. "You better know what you're doing," he growled. "I don't want to get detention just because you're delusional."

Following Kit Shawn to the Caretaker's Office if that is where we're heading?

At the mention of not being able to exactly call Selim normal, Shawn's face fell and he looked troubled. "Selim is...a special case," he said after a while. "I've met him before. I and others are trying to help him, but there's only so much we can do until he decides he wants to be helped or help himself. Anyway, I can assure you, I'm not like him. He's a pretty lonely kid."

He raised his head again then, directing his mind to other matters. Ruka's remark about most things feeling like they're exactly what they seemed earned a small shrug as the swarthy boy continued leading them toward their destination. The Gryffindor, meanwhile, responded to his questions about the caretaker. Shawn nodded to those seeming absent, as if he were nodding without listening to the actual words being said. He didn't even seem to notice when Shawn stopped at the bottom of the stairs, continuing up and up himself on his own.

Because his back was to Ruka, Shawn couldn't see the redhead's glare nor could the redhead see his own expression. However, his shoulders shook a little in silent laughter at the metaphorical daggers he could feel aimed at him from behind when at last the third year ventured up the tower after him.

In the time it took for Ruka to catch up, Shawn had taken some keys out of his pocket, unlocked the door, and replaced the keyring back out of sight once more. Once the Irish boy was there, Shawn turned the doorknob and pushed open the office door for them both to step through, walking in first so Ruka didn't suspect there was a trap in the dark, empty room. He quickly lit the place with a simple spell shot from his retrieved wand and turned back to Ruka.

"Have a seat wherever you like," he stated, gesturing at the chairs in front of the desk and some cushions strewn around as he swept his way across the room to a folding screen in a corner. "I'll be right out. And don't worry, I won't let you get detention."

@Ruka Burnett-Tân

@Kit Paine

T O P

J E A N S / S H O E S

Ruka faltered for a moment when Shawn talked about Selim, about having met him and trying to help. He felt like he should be warning the other boy somehow, suggest caution, but there was something about the way that Shawn pointed out that Selim was lonely of all things, that made Ruka stay silent, a thoughtful expression on his face before he turned his head to the side as if to guard his face from the other boy's view.

"Aren't we all?" he pointed out, but there was no judgment in his voice, no bitterness, just a general observation. Loneliness was a common disease in this castle.

Remaining silent as he followed Shawn, Ruka arrived at the Caretaker's office door just in time for the other boy to push it open and moving inside like it was the most natural thing to do. With a spell Ruka wasn't sure he knew, the room lit up, revealing a simple layout, a folding screen across the room, a ridiculous amount of cushions spread across the floor.

He followed Shawn's request to sit down by letting himself sink into a large, round, orange cushion on the floor, watching thoughtfully as the boy vanished behind the folding screen.

"Polyjuice Potion," Ruka blurted out, tugging at a loose thread on his jeans. "If you really are who you say you are, are you using Polyjuice Potion? I read it makes the drinker look like someone else." He took a deep breath, let his gaze drift around the room. There was a wardrobe behind the desk, and Ruka could have sworn he saw it shaking just a moment ago. "But why go through that kind of trouble? Do you get so bored of your job you'd rather be someone else?" A little smirk pulled at Ruka's lips as he set his fire fan down on the floor beside him. If he really was talking to a staff member then now was probably the moment he did risk detention for being disrespectful. "Or do you just like cheating kids into trusting you by making yourself look like one of them? That's deceitful, you know. Is that considered Identity Theft? That sounds like criminal activity." He focused his eyes on the folding screen, waiting for Shawn to reappear. "Are you a criminal?"

The voice that responded to Ruka from behind the screen cleared its throat before speaking in much deeper tones than that of the boy that had previously disappeared behind it. This was the voice of a confident young adult rather than a flippant juvenile. "Good guess! I can tell you've been doing your homework," it said, not without amusement, but not without genuine surprise, either. "I don't use Polyjuice Potion to change my appearance, however. I was born what the wizarding world refers to as a 'metamorphmagus'. Read up on those?"

The caretaker as Ruka might have previously witnessed him stepped out from behind the folding screen then, adjusting the front of his robes. "And I go through that trouble to keep an eye out for hags. They, too, can appear to be children without Polyjuice Potions, you see, so I like to try to keep a low profile while on the lookout." He walked over to Ruka, seated himself at his desk, folded his hands atop it, and winked. "But I won't pretend it's not a good way to alleviate the boredom of solitary castle patrols as well."

Chuckling softly at the Gryffindor's questions, Kit studied him with a critical gaze. "I don't steal identities without permission unless necessary. Besides, that takes a great deal more work thank most people realize. It's much easier just to make up a new person, but you and your schoolmates are keen. Several of you have already come to realize two or three of my disguises aren't who they seem to be." He sighed. "It's starting to make me think I should take a break from all that pretending for a little while. At the very least, though, this means I know that you kids are becoming wary enough to perhaps become aware if a fellow student really might just turn out to be a disguised hag."

The man grinned at Ruka. "As for myself, I'd like to think I'm complicit with the law and not a criminal; just a law-abiding citizen with concern for the kids and the school he looks after." He extended a hand. "You must have already heard my name elsewhere, but just for politeness' sake, I'm Kit Paine. Pleased to meet you."

@Ruka Burnett-Tân